|
Dataset
|
|
Title
|
Monthly and annual solar exposure (base climatological data
sets) |
|
Custodian
|
|
Custodian
|
Bureau of Meteorology
|
|
Jurisdiction
|
Australia
|
|
Description
|
|
Abstract
|
Global solar exposure is the total amount of solar energy
falling on a horizontal surface. The daily global solar exposure is the total
solar energy for a day. Typical values for daily global exposure range from 1 to
35 MJ/m2 (megajoules per square metre). For mid-latitudes, the values
are usually highest in clear sun conditions during the summer, and lowest during
winter or very cloudy days.
These average data sets are based on 16 years
(1990 - 2005) of solar exposure data derived from Japan Meteorological Agency
and National
Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration satellite imagery.
See LINEAGE below for more information. |
|
Search Word(s)
|
Gridded, satellite, climatology, solar, radiation, exposure,
meteorology |
|
Geographic Extent Names(s)
|
Australia
|
|
General Category
|
Gridded climatological data |
|
General Custodian Jurisdiction
|
Australian Government
Australia
|
|
Geographic Extent Polygon
|
Not applicable
|
|
Geographic Bounding Box
|
See below
|
|
North Bounding Latitude
|
-11.00 |
|
South Bounding Latitude
|
-43.70 |
|
East Bounding Longitude
|
153.60 |
|
West Bounding Longitude
|
113.10 |
|
Data Currency
|
|
Beginning Date
|
1990 |
|
Ending Date
|
2005 |
|
Dataset Status
|
|
Progress
|
Completed
|
|
Maintenance and
Update frequency
|
Ongoing
|
|
Access
|
|
Stored Data Format
|
Arc/Info grids - all Australia
|
|
Available Format Type
|
ASCII grid-point, Arc/Info grid Interchange (.e00),
Shapefiles.
|
|
Access Constraint
|
Satellite-derived
global solar exposure estimates are based on images from the Geostationary
Meteorological Satellite GMS-4, GMS-5, MTSAT-1R (from Nov. 2005) and
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-9) satellites which are
provided with permission of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the United
States National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Any use of
products from this imagery requires acknowledgement of the satellites of JMA and
NOAA as the original source of the satellite data, and acknowledgement of the
Commonwealth of Australia (Bureau of Meteorology) which received and processed
the images.
Acknowledgement should be in the form: "Solar exposure data
derived from
satellite imagery processed by the Bureau of Meteorology from the Geostationary
Meteorological Satellite series operated by Japan Meteorological Agency and from
GOES-9 operated by the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) for the Japan Meteorological Agency"
Please
contact us (see details below) for more information.
|
|
Data Quality
|
|
Lineage
|
The Bureau of Meteorology's computer radiation model uses
visible images from geostationary meteorological satellites to estimate daily
global solar exposures at ground level.
At each location for each satellite acquired image, the
brightnesses are averaged over each grid cell and used to estimate solar
irradiance at the ground. Essentially,
the irradiance at the ground can be calculated from the irradiance at the top of
the earth's atmosphere, the amount absorbed in the atmosphere (dependant on the
amount of water vapour present), the amount reflected from the surface (surface
albedo) and the amount reflected from clouds (cloud albedo).
These instantaneous irradiance values are integrated over the
day to give daily insolation (daily radiant exposure) in megajoules per square
metre. The daily exposure gridded
datasets cover Australia with a resolution of 0.05 degrees in latitude and longitude.
The maps for this dataset were produced by reprocessing
archived raw satellite data using software that was extensively rewritten in
2006 but based on the physical model that has been used since 1990. Bias with
respect to exposure estimates from Bureau of Meteorology ground instruments was
removed by a linear adjustment to each month's maps. The monthly averages have
been adjusted (to reduce the effect of missing days as solar declination
changes) using the ratio of top-of-atmosphere exposure totals for the full month
and for the sampled days. |
|
Positional Accuracy
|
The satellite data on which the analyses were based have an
associated resolution and typical accuracy of 0.05 degrees (5 km) up to and
including June 1994 and 0.01 degrees (1.25 km) thereafter, although some
individual images have errors of several km. |
|
Attribute Accuracy
|
Not applicable |
|
Logical Consistency
|
Not applicable
|
|
Completeness
|
All of the
months for the period had at least half of their days sampled, with the vast
majority missing no more than one day. GOES-9 ceased operation in November
2005 |
|
Contact Information
|
|
Contact Organisation
|
Bureau of Meteorology
|
|
Contact Position
|
NCC Information officer
|
|
Mail Address
|
PO BOX 1289, Melbourne 3001, Australia
|
|
Locality
|
|
|
State
|
Victoria
|
|
Country
|
Australia
|
|
Postcode
|
3001
|
|
Telephone
|
(03) 9669 4082
|
|
Facsimile
|
(03) 9669 4515
|
|
Electronic Mail
|
webclim@bom.gov.au
|
|
Metadata date
|
|
Metadata date
|
2007 |
|
Additional Metadata
|
Additional information available on request (see contact
above) |
